Feeding apparatus



April 24, 1962 M. P. MARZlLl 3,031,151

FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Maria E Marzi/i INVENTOR.

BY 9 /m April 24, 1952 M. P. MARZlLl 3,031,151-

FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A Mario 19 Mam/7i INVENTOR.

9 I02 I00 4 BY April 1962 M. P. MARZILI 3,031,151

FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet s Maria E Marzi/l INVENTORY? BY @waaifim A ril 24; 19 2 M. P. MARZILI 3, 3

FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Mar/'0 F. Marzi/i INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofifice 3,031,151 Patented Apr. 24, 1952 3,031,151 FEEDING APPARATUS Mario P. Marzili, Blackwood, NJ. Cut-Cost Manufacturiug Crp., Black Horse Pike, Rte. 3, Williamstown, NJ.)

Filed Jan. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 84,621 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-54) This invention relates in particular to improvements in a wire stitching machine and in general to improved material feeding apparatus.

The present invention is especially concerned with wvire stitching machines of the type in which wire from a spool loaded onto the machine is fed through a guide tube and is cut as a die forms a wire staple from the cut wire for wire stitching purposes. Such wire stitching machines necessarily operate ata rapid speed for quantity production and it is accordingly essential that such machines be capable of smoothly running for unlimited periods of time. The present invention is concerned with the feeding function of the machine rather than the cutting and die forming operations thereof inasmuch as failure of such machines for the most part has occurred in the wire feeding phase. Accordingly, the feeding cams of the machine, its operative connection to the power input and the tensioning of the wire as it is drawn from the wire storing spool all contribute either favorably or adversely to a smoothly operating and long enduring wire stitching machine.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide improvements in particular for a wire stitching machine and in general for machines in which material is being intermittently fed, which will reduce the occurrence of failure in the machine operations, render the machine more smoothly operative, avoid kinking of the wire or other material being fed, prevent total breakdown of the machine due to temporary malfunction and finally increase the life of the feeding apparatus of the machine.

One of the important objects of this invention there fore, is to provide a novel and improved wire spool assembly which embodies novel spool braking mechanism which furnishes the spool assembly with a braking force arranged to provide a uniform tension on the wire to which an intermittent pull is exerted by the feeding cams. The novel wire spool construction of the present invention is particularly important because failure in wire stitching machines for which the present invention is particularly useful, occurs mostly due to wire spool failure. Accordingly, the wire spool braking force of the present invention is furnished by a weight responsive mechanism applying a resisting torque to the wire spool assembly together with an additional novel arrangement of axially and circu-mferentially spaced braking elements mounted within the spool assembly which apply an axial force to the spool assembly for varying the braking force thereon so as to provide the uniform tension in resisting the pull exerted on the wire by the feeding cams as was hereinbefore mentioned.

An additional object of this invention is to provide in conjunction with the automatic tensioning spool, a feeding cam mechanism including a simple but novel departure from similar feed cam mechanisms which extends the operative life of the cam feeding mechanism to an unexpected extent.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a power drive connection to the feeding cam mechanism wherein overload is prevented so as to avoid rupture of the wire when temporary malfunctioning of the machine occurs. Also, a positive drive release brake mechanism is provided in connection with the drive connection enabling rapid and complete power cut-off from the feeding apparatus by the machine operator.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view with parts broken away of a wire stitching machine embodying the improved wire feeding mechanism of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the machine illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 33 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 44 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 5-5 in FIGURE 2..

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 6-6 in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 7--7 in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 8'8 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 99 in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of one of the feeding cam elements of the feeding apparatus.

FIGURE 11 is an expanded view of a portion of the wire spool assembly.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, attention is first invited toward FIGURES 1 and 2 which illustrate a complete wire stitching machine generally indicated by reference numeral 10 in connection with which the present invention is to be described. It will be observed therefore, that the machine includes a bench base 12 upon which the drive motor 14 is mounted rearwardly of and to one lateral side of the base 12. The motor 14 is drivingly connected by means of a belt 16 to a drive pulley wheel 18 which is drivingly connected to a former cutter assembly 22 through a releasable, overload one-way' clutch mechanism generally referred to by reference numeral 20 and also to a cam feeding mechanism 24. The driving connections between the clutch mechanism Ztl and the cutter assembly 22 and feed cam mechanism 24 are disposed within the main housing 26 which driving mechanism is of known design. A cover plate 23 is provided forwardly of the main housing 26 enabling easy removal thereof for machine repair purposes. The cutter and forming assembly 22 cooperates with a clincher element 30 which is adjustably mounted on a base arm 32 by means of the pivot 34 and the adjustment screws 36 and 38. A wire guide tube 40 is adjustably disposed between the cam feeding mechanism 24 and the former cutter assembly 22 as more clearly seen in FIGURE 2, for the purpose of directing the wire 42 from the cam feeding mechanism 24 to the cutting and forming assembly 22. A pair of pivot adjustment elements 44 and 46 are accordingly provided for properly positioning the tube 40. The wire being fed by the feeding cam mechanism 24 is drawn from a wire spool assembly 48 which is rotatably mounted about an axis inclined rearwardly of the machine and is disposed in spaced relation above the feeding mechanism 24. The guide spring member 50 is accordingly mounted by the main housing and extends upwardly therefrom toward the wire spool assembly for guiding the wire 42 therefrom through a wire loop 52 into the feeding cam mechanism 24. A wire check mechanism generally referred to by reference numeral 54 is disposed between the lower end of the spring guide arm 50 and the feeding mechanism 24 which engages the wire 42 to prevent kinking thereof as it is being intermittently fed by the feeding mechanism 24 through the guide tube 40 to the cutting and forming assembly 22.

Referring now to FIGURES 3, 4 and 11 in particular, it will be observed that the wire spool assembly is rotatably mounted about the rearwardly inclined axis hereinbefore mentioned by means of a spool shaft 56 which is anchored at its lower end within the main housing 26. The angle of the spool shaft 56, which is nonrotatable, will depend upon the wire tensioning force required for the particular installation. The only requirement for the disposition of the spool shaft 56 is that it be not disposed in a horizontal position but at some angle above the horizontal including 90 degrees to the horizontal. Disposed at the upper end of the spool shaft 56 is a pointed conical portion 58 through which the braking force is applied to the spool assembly 48 for automatic wire tensioning purposes. The spool assembly accordingly includes a spool body member 60 including a lower hub portion 62 and an axially extending sleeve portion 64 rotatably mounted about the spool shaft 56. A bore 66 is therefore formed within the body member 60 for loosely receiving the spool shaft 56 therewithin. The upper end of the sleeve portion 64 includes a threaded portion 68 and has disposed therewithin a hard rubber insert 70 within which a recess 72 is formed for frictional engagement with the upper end portion 58 of the spool shaft for the purpose of applying therethrough a braking force to the spool assembly through the body member 60. The spool cylinder 74 containing the wire wound thereupon is positioned between a flange formation 76 on the body member 60 and a similar flange formation 78 of an assembled flange member 80 which is maintained assembled on the sleeve portion 64 of the spool body member 60 by means of the clamp nut 82 which is threadedly positioned on the threaded portion 68 of the body member for axial abutment against the flange member 80. It will be observed, that both the body member 60 and the flange member 80 are provided inwardly thereof with conical surfaces 84 and 86 for the purpose of accurately centering the spool cylinder 74 for coaxial rotation about the axis extending through the spool shaft 56.

Both the body member 60 and the flange member 80 are provided with radial reinforcing ribs 88 between which radial slot formations 90 are formed for the purpose of facilitating disassembly and reassembly of the spool assembly parts. It will therefore be apparent from the foregoing description, that the braking force applied to the spool assembly 48 for tensioning the wire withdrawn therefrom, will depend upon the weight of the spool assembly the axial force component of which will determine the frictional force present between the engaging surfaces in the rubber insert 70 and the portion 58 of the fixed spool shaft 56. It will therefore be appreciated that ordinarily the resisting torque applied to the spool assembly 48 will decrease with a reduction in the weight of the spool assembly 48 and that the tensioning force applied to the wire being withdrawn from the spool assembly will further be decreased as the radial distance thereof decreases as the wire unwinds from the spool assembly.

Accordingly, in order to insure that the wire tension remains uniform throughout the operation of the machine with a fully loaded spool assembly to a nearly empty spool assembly, the hub portion 62 of the spool body member 60 is provided with a plurality of radial bores 92 as more clearly seen in FIGURES 4 and 11 which are equallly spaced from each other along an axial direction parallel to the axis through the spool shaft 56 and also circumferentially spaced thereabout. Steel ball bearings 94 are disposed within the radial bores 92 and are biased into engagement with the outer surface of the fixed spool shaft 56 by a spring mechanism 96 the bias of which is adjusted by means of the adjustment setscrews 98. Accordingly, not only will the balls 94 furnish an additional but limited braking force but will in response to rotative torque applied to the spool assembly by the pull exerted on the wire, induce an axial force component on the spool assembly by virtue of the spiral relationship between the contact areas of the respective balls 24 with the shaft 56 in view of their cir-, cumferential as well as axial spacing. Accordingly, an additional axial force increasing the friction between the shaft portion 53 and the insert 70 will be provided which is a function of the torque exerted on the spool assembly 48 by the wire so as to counteract the aforementioned effect of a reducing resisting force due to the decreasing weight and radius. A more uniform tension is thereby provided for the wire throughout the operation of the feeding apparatus.

The intermittent pull exerted on the wire 42 is produced by the feed cam mechanism 24. Referring therefore to FIGURES 2, 5 and 10 in particular, it will be observed that the mechanism 24 includes a pair of feed cams 100 and 102 which are drivingly interconnected by gears 104 and 106 respectively connected to the feed cams 100 and 102 causing them to be rotated in opposite directions. A shaft 108 is therefore connected to the feed earn 100 and gear 104 for driving connection to the power input pulley wheel 18 through the clutch mechanism 20 as will hereafter be explained in further detail. Accordingly, as the feed cams 100 and 102 are rotated periodically an engaging portion 110 on the feed cam 100 will engage a corner engaging portion 112 on the feed cam 102 which is properly angularly positioned with respect to the feed cam 100 for such purpose. The feed cam 100 is provided with a slotted portion 114 to render it elastically resilient for engaging the wire with the feed cam 102 with the proper engaging pressure. Ordinarily, one of the feed cams of the cam feeding mechanism will be made of a softer metal so that wear will occur to only one of the feed cams requiring replacement of only said one feed cam. In the present case, the replaceable feed cam is the feed cam 102. It will be observed however that the feed cam 102 includes engaging portions 112 at four corners thereof which are symmetrically placed so that when one of the corner portions 112 become worn rendering the feed mechanism 24 inoperative, instead of replacing the feed cam with an entirely new element, it may be angularly repositioned with respect to the feed cam 100 so that another corner thereof will be in cooperative angular relation thereto. Accordingly, four positions for the feed cam 102 may be exhausted before it need be replaced. It will therefore be appreciated that the life of the feed mechanism 24 before replacement of a part thereof is necessary, will be extended to a significantly large extent. Therefore, the feeding apparatus in addition to reducing the number of breakdowns and failures will also have a significantly extended life before replacement of any parts thereof are required.

It will further be observed that the check mechanism 54 is conveniently located above the feed mechanism 24 as more clearly seen from FIGURES 2 and 9. The wire check mechanism accordingly includes an engaging lever element 116 biased into engagement with the wire on one side thereof by the spring 118 pressing the wire against the guide roller 120. The wire check mechanism 54 will thereby retard feeding movement of the wire 42 when the pull exerted thereon by the feed cams will be released. Kinking of the wire is thereby prevented.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing, that should malfunctioning occur either in the feeding mechanism 24 or in the wire spool assembly 48, in order to prevent complete rupture of parts or the wire requiring major repair and shutdown of the machine, the drive pulley wheel 18 is drivingly connected to the feeding mechanism through the clutch mechanism 20. Referring therefore to FIGURES l, 6, 7 and 8 it will be observed that the machine is provided with a power input drive shaft 120 upon which the drive pulley wheel 18 is rotatably mounted. A ratchet disc 122 is mounted coaxially with the drive pulley wheel 18. In order to insure proper coaxial mounting of the ratchet disc 122 which is most essential for proper operation of the clutch mechanism 20, the pulley wheel 18 has a threaded portion 124 which projects axially therefrom and is also provided with an annular recess 126 which is coaxially disposed with respect to the rotational axis of the pulley wheel 18. Accordingly, the ratchet disc 122 may be fixedly assembled with respect to the pulley wheel 18 in a more accurate and convenient manner by threaded engagement thereof with the threaded portion 124 and seating of the ratchet disc at one side thereof within the annular recess 126 of the pulley wheel 18.

A driven clutch disc member 128 is disposed in axially spaced relationship to the pulley wheel 18 and is keyed to the drive shaft 120. In order to drivingly couple the driven disc 128 and thereby the drive shaft 120 to the drive pulley wheel 18, a clutch cam 130 is mounted on the driven disc member 128 and includes an inwardly projecting pawl formation 131 which engages the ratchet teeth on the ratchet disc 122 in order to couple the disc member 123 to the ratchet disc 122 in one relative direction of rotation. Accordingly, as viewed in FIGURE 6, clockwise rotation of the pulley wheel 18 will impart clockwise movement to the clutch cam 130 and to the driven clutch disc 128 thereby. The clutch cam 130 is mounted on the disc member 128 by means of a pin projection 132 which as more clearly seen in FIGURE 7 includes a flat portion 134 which is maintained in a predetermined angular position by a spring plunger 136 disposed within a bore 138 within the disc member 128. A spring element 140 urges the spring plunger 136 into engagement with the fiat portion 134 while the tension of the spring element 140 is adjustable by means of the spring adjuster element 142. It will therefore be apparent that the clutch cam 130 will be maintained in the position illustrated in FIGURE 6 in which the pawl 131 engages the ratchet teeth but said clutch cam 130 may be pivotally displaced from said position out of engagement with said ratchet disc due to overload which overload will be governed by the biasing force of the spring plunger 136 on the flat 134 of the projection 132 on the clutch cam 138. It will therefore be appreciated that the drive pulley wheel 18 will impart drive in one direction to the drive shaft 128 while any overload on the drive shaft 128 due to machine malfunctioning for example, or any excessive speed of the drive pulley producing a centrifugal force on the clutch cam 130 exceeding the biasing force of the plunger element 136, will automatically disengage the clutch mechanism until proper operating conditions prevail once again.

When it is desired to drivingly disconnect the drive pulley 18 from the feeding mechanism, the clutch mechanism described hereinbefore may be selectively disengaged for such purpose. Accordingly, a clutch trip lever 144 is provided and is pivotally mounted by the machine frame by means of the pivot shaft 146. As viewed in FIGURE 6, pivotal displacement of the clutch trip lever 144 in a counterclockwise direction will engage a projection 148 on the clutch cam 138 so that it will be pivotally displaced about the axis through its pivot pin projection 132 to disengage the clutch mechanism. Also connected to the clutch release lever 144 is a brake lever 150 which will simultaneously engage a recess 152 in the driven clutch disc member 128 when the clutch lever 144 engages the projection 148 on the clutch cam 130. Accordingly, when the clutch mechanism is disengaged the driven disc member 128 thereof will be positively braked to immediately stop rotation of the machine parts. A trip lever actuator link 154 which may be placed under manual, solenoid or hydraulic control is connected to the clutch trip lever 144 by'means of the eyebolt member 156 connected thereto in order to provide a convenient means for selectively disengaging the clutch mechanism.

From the foregoing, the noteworthy contributions made by the present invention to wire stitching machines in particular and feeding apparatus in general, will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It will therefore be appreciated that the present invention by featuring the novel automatic spool tensioning assembly in conjunction with the repositionable cam feeding mechanism and the novel clutch mechanism rendered more accurately operative by virtue of the improved mounting of the ratchet disc thereof, endows any machine adopting the principles of the present feeding apparatus with longer life, smoother operation and more infrequent breakdown than was heretofore thought possible. Although the present feeding apparatus was specifically described in connection with a wire stitching machine, it will be understood that it may be equally useful for other installations such as wire bending, punch press and textile machines or wherever material mounted on material storage assemblies is being intermittently fed.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. Wire feeding apparatus for wire stitching machines or the like comprising, frame means, power input means rotatably mounted by the frame means rearwardly thereof, intermittent feed cam means rotatably mounted by the frame means forwardly thereof, releasable one-way clutch means driving'ly connecting said power input means to the feed cam means for intermittently exerting a predetermined pull on wire fed therethrough, wire-containing spool means rotatably mounted about a rearwardly inclined axis intermediate the feed cam means and power input means, resilient wire guide means mounted by the frame means for guiding wire from the spool means to the feed cam means, tensioning means mounted by the frame means for rotatably mounting the spool means and applying a wire tensioning braking force thereto in response to rotational torque applied to the spool means by the feed cam means through the wire, whereby wire is fed by the feed cam means with uniform tension at all times.

2. The combination of claim 1, including wire check means mounted by the frame means between the feed cam means and the resilient guide means for engagement with the wire to prevent kinking thereof when the cam means is not exerting a pull thereon.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said feed cam means comprises a pair of drivingly interconnected feed cams, one of said cams having an elastically deformable feeding surface cooperative with a feeding surface of the other cam to intermittently engage and feed wire extending therebetween, said other cam having a plurality of symmetrically arranged feeding surfaces each of which may cooperate with the feeding surface on said one cam by angular repositioning of the other cam relative to the one cam.

4. The combination of claim 3, wherein said tensioning means includes a fixed shaft containing said rearwardly inclined axis, a spool mounting assembly rotatably mounted on said shaft and centering said spool means thereon for rotation therewith about the inclined axis,

friction means mounted in the spool mounting assembly means for engagement with an upper end of the shaft to apply a weight responsive braking force on the spool mounting assembly, and additional means mounted in the spool mounting assembly and engageable with the shaft for applying an additional braking force at the upper end of the shaft in response to rotational torque applied to the spool mounting assembly for uniform tensioning of the wire.

5. The combination of claim 4, wherein said one-way clutch means includes a ratchet disc coaxially fixed to the input means, a clutch cam mounted on a driven disc drivingly connected to the feed cams including a pawl projection engageable with the ratchet disc, said clutch cam and pawl projection being displaceable out of engagement against a bias capable of holding the pawl projection in engagement below a predetermined speed and resisting torque of the driven disc.

6. The combination of claim 1, wherein said tensioning means includes a fixed shaft containing said rearwardly inclined axis, a spool mounting assembly rotatably mounted on said shaft and centering said spool means thereon for rotation therewith about the inclined axis, friction means mounted in the spool mounting assembly means for engagement with an upper end of the shaft to apply a weight responsive braking force on the spool mounting assembly, and additional means mounted in the spool mounting assembly and engageable with the shaft for applying an additional braking force at the upper end of the shaft in response to rotational torque applied to the spool mounting assembly for uniform tensioning of the wire.

7. The combination of claim 1, wherein said one-way clutch means includes a ratchet disc coaxially fixed to the input means, a clutch cam mounted on a driven disc driviugly connected to the feed cams including a pawl projection engageable with the ratchet disc, said clutch cam and pawl projection being displaceable out of engagement against a bias capable of holding the pawl projection in engagement below a predetermined speed and resisting torque of the driven disc.

8. An automatic wire tensioning mechanism for wire spools or the like comprising, a fixed shaft disposed at a vertically inclined angle, a spool mounting assembly rotatably mounted on said shaft and centering a spool thereon for rotation therewith about an inclined axis through said shaft, friction means mounted in the spool mounting assembly means for engagement with an upper end of the shaft to apply a weight responsive breaking force on the spool mounting assembly, and additional means mounted in the spool mounting assembly and engageable with the shaft for applying an additional braking force at the upper end of the shaft in response to rotational torque applied to the spool mounting assembly for uniform tensioning of the wire, said additional means comprising a plurality of biased elements engaging said shaft in equal axially and angu'larly spaced relation to each other about the shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,219,698 Brackett Mar. 20, 1917 1,730,431 Keefer Oct. 8, 1929 1,732,821 Smith Oct. 22, 1929 2,316,798 Luebbe Apr. 20, 1943 2,705,428 McCullough Apr. 5, 1955 2,952,393 Newton Sept. 13, 1960 

